Urukaxl
Urukaxl is part of the Swavain Islands south of Nicodranas in the Lucidian Ocean. It is surrounded by the Inkclaw Reef. Most sailors avoid it, believing it to be dangerous or cursed. 'Society' The island is inhabited by lizardfolk and yuan-ti that regularly fight each other for its control. 'Lizardfolk' The lizardfolk live on the outskirts of the island. They call the rivers, streams and the inlets home. They speak in a very low, guttural clicking. They're muscular, and burly, hunched, and they are deeply scaled all over. They have long snouts with rows of sharp teeth and a frill down the back of the neck. They wear makeshift bits of leather strapped together to form patches of armor across the torso, and big heavy shields, carved from a large shell, that have multiple rows of spines and hooks down the back. They carry clubs and heavy blades that are made of makeshift, scavenged metal or weapons that have washed up on shore or have been recovered from others that have been unlucky to make their way to this island and never returned. 'Yuan-Ti' The Yuan-Ti are people of scale and fang, the snake-folk that exist further in near this temple. They have variations of their strange physical, some have heads that are full of serpent features, patches of scales, yellow eyes, as well as some with limbs themselves transformed into snake-like forms. The Yuan-Ti have built a village around the temple. They dress in simple attire suitable for the jungle environment and shun hoods so both members of their society and trespassers are easily identifiable. 'Environment' The island consists mostly out of jungle and beaches. Inside the jungle is a small village, a ruin, and a five-sided temple. The beaches are beautiful and white. There is the occasional shard of driftwood or a glimmer of a smooth abalone shell scattered amongst the sandy beaches. There are a few animals up in the top of the trees. Some monkey-type creature, small, leaping from branch to branch. There are a few colorful jungle birds that are up in the higher elements of the tree tops and there are leopard-like creatures with a mane of snakes called Kamadan. There are a number of jungle flowers. Most of them are a dull pink in color that fade to a green at the base. A lot of them grow along the base of the roots of some of the jungle trees. 'Jungle' The jungle line begins about 40 feet onto the island and immediately grows dense and tangled with vines, root and various jungle, heavy palm tree, and tropical trees that choke the sky above. The jungle looks endless, filled with trees, hanging vines and heavy roots in the ground. It is warm, humid, and within ten minutes of walking into the jungle, sweat beginnings to gather at the edges of your hair and the back of your coat. The floor is soft each with a spongy pressure before it hits hard earth, rock, or compressed compost and soft vegetation. 'Driftwood Shack' Within the forest is a partially obscured dilapidated driftwood shack, with a frond-thatched roof. A lot of the overgrowth of the jungle has reclaimed the base of the wood. A lot of it is driftwood, or ramshackle planks that have been carved from trees that have fallen over in the vicinity, or possibly scavenged from shipwrecks that have washed ashore. It is a mismatch of different types of wood and cobbled materials, but it is a shack. It's no more than ten-foot by ten-foot. You do see a half-rotted sheet of some sort of thick material that blocks the doorway. There are some holes that have been eaten through it. Inside is a simple cot, a chair, a mildewed leather coat that appears to be half folded over and thrown in the corner, and a small box up on the table there has no lid on it. The whole room smells faintly of rot. Under the cot is a small six-by-four inches chest that is trapped. When the weight within is distributed, a cord slides the chest back against the wall. The cable goes through a loop through the ceiling and a large urn that is set up inside a thatched roof tips over and begins to release dozens of poisonous snakes on top of the intruder. 'Ruin' The ruin is made of stone rubble. The structure was built here long ago, and has since fallen over, and elements of its masonry either moved or reclaimed for other structures elsewhere on the island. There are basis of walls and joining positions where elements of the previous building were used to maintain and hold the ceiling that has since fallen in. 'Small Village' There are a few dozen sandstone buildings scattered around the temple. The stone coloration is yellowish to a dull gray and white with different materials used to accent elements of the constructions. The jungle vines and roots begin to entwine and tangle near the base of some of the structures and where it's built looks like parts of the jungle have grown up around and helped camouflage elements of this small village. Marking different intersections are 10 feet tall snake-head obelisks on exposed stone. They appear to be softly carved from bits of a marble material or recovered stone in a similar way that most of the construction has been done. 'Temple of the False Serpent' :→ Main article: Temple of the False Serpent. Inside the small snake village on the island of Urukaxl is the Temple of the False Serpent. It was built in honor of Uk'otoa and later taken over by yuan-ti who rededicated it to The Cloaked Serpent. 'History' The temple was built in honor of Uk'otoa and later taken over by yuan-ti who rededicated it to The Cloaked Serpent. The yuan-ti built a city around the temple. ' ' Jamedi Cosko returns to the Squall Eater from his mission to scout Urukaxl. He warns Avantika and the Mighty Nein that the jungle is inhabited by both lizardfolk and snake men. The temple they are looking for is surrounded by a city of snake men. ' ' The Mighty Nein, Jamedi Cosko and Captain Avantika navigate through the jungle in search of the temple to Uk'otoa. They find the shack and Nott triggers the trap of the chest when she moves the simple golden small carved head of a cobra inside. The statue is carved with the hood open and the jaw open with fangs drawn. Next to it laid three approximately gold piece-sized rubies. The trap had decomposed dead snakes laid within. Continuing in the jungle they see a group of lizard people being slaughtered and felled by yuan-ti. The group eventually finds a place next to the ruin where they camp for the night in Caleb's Tiny Hut. While exploring the surroundings Caduceus and Jester get attacked by kamadans. The rest of the party come to help with Jamedi and Avantika. Fjord and Nott land the killing blows on the two creatures. Sometime later two snake people pass by and try to get through the Tiny Hut but don’t succeed. Once the lizard people leave, the group moves out, before they can be tracked. As they continue through the jungle, they find the small village. Their original plan is blocked by a giant snake person sitting in front of the temple, so they decided to find another way into the temple. The group disguises them self’s to stealth in and make a distraction and move in together. The group try to blend in through the town, sneaking closer to the temple. They notice the snake people whipping lizard people to pull a giant piece of stone, and they pass the snake person pulling the flesh off the one lizard person. They continue through the intersection towards the temple and hear that they need to gather more food because the stores are running low. They got noticed by some lizard folks as they are on their way to the temple. On top of the temple they find a stone tablet for sacrifices and a trapdoor. Nott picks the lock and the group heads in with Jamedi. Nott leads the way down the staircase, searching for traps and triggers a trap, that starts sliding the party down the stairs. On the bottom they're immediately noticed by four snakelike creatures. ' ' The Mighty Nein explore the temple, and discover and slay the warden that lays in the basement of the temple. ' ' Avantika put the first Cloven Crystal in place to unlock Uk'otoa, causing a flood in the temple. The waters burst out of the temple, flooding the city. Avantika, Jamedi Cosko, and the Mighty Nein escaped before drowning but were pursued by a group of yuan-ti through the jungle. References Art: Category:Islands Category:Lucidian Ocean Category:Swavain Islands